Rahm's sticker hike

Steve Chapman

When Rahm Emanuel came in last week to outline his budget plans to the Tribune editorial board, he made a convincing case for what he wants to do. But one thing carried the unmistakable fragrance of horsefeathers.

When asked about his plan to charge SUV and minivan owners $135 a year for vehicle stickers, up from $75, the mayor said it was appropriate because larger vehicles do more damage to roads, which the city bears the cost of repairing.

There is no question that 18-wheelers, which weigh up to 80,000 pounds when loaded, inflict more wear and tear on asphalt than cars. But it struck me as implausible that a minivan weighing 4,500 pounds would beat up the pavement appreciably more than a 3,000 pound sedan. A 250-pound linebacker, after all, doesn’t really erode a sidewalk faster than a 120-pound cheerleader.

When I asked the mayor’s press office for data to support the claim, I was directed to a study for the Oregon Department of Transportation, which found that “road damage increases much more than proportionately with vehicle weight on a roadway surface.” So I emailed Anthony Rufolo, a Portland State University professor who co-authored the study to ask if that conclusion applied to SUVs and minivans. His response: No.

The study, he told me “has no relevance to passenger vehicles. Passenger vehicles (or light vehicles) have not been found to damage roads. The federal government and various states analyze the appropriate cost allocation between light and heavy vehicles due to road damage. None of the studies attribute much increase in road damage to more use by light vehicles.”

If the mayor thinks motorists should pay more to keep city streets in good repair, he may have a good case. In that case, though, it’s hard to see why only some drivers should bear the burden.